Japan could increase salmon imports due to earthquake
Devastating effects in farming sites and processing plants were provoked by the quake and tsunami in the Japanese provinces Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba, which concentrate around 20% of the salmon production in Japan.
The Asian giant primarily consumes Coho salmon and produces around 30 000 tonnes of that species per year. According to the Chilean newspaper La Tercera, it is expected that Japan could increase its salmon imports within the next 12-18 months due to this shortage of internal production.
A positive effect on prices is also expected for both, Coho salmon and Rainbow trout. The average price for Coho salmon already shows a significant increase as of February 2011, from US$ 6.1/Kg in the same month of 2010 to US$ 7.4/Kg this year.
